The Politics of Practice-Orientation
Friday, 8 May 2015

An event in collaboration with the Technische Universität Berlin, University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg, University College London and Urban Lab+

Date: Friday, 08 May 2015, 5:00 pm
Place: ANCB The Aedes Metropolitan Laboratory, Christinenstr. 18-19 (Pfefferberg), 10119 Berlin

With urban and environmental challenges increasingly at the forefront of societal concerns and debates, the expectations and responsibilities resting upon architecture, planning and related disciplines have arguably never been greater. Higher education needs to innovate and adapt to ensure that future professionals are prepared to meet these expectations and responsibilities. Although this has become common knowledge recently, striving for innovation and achieving it are two different things. Debates concerning innovation in the so-called built environment education encompass not only the question of how curricula and educational delivery practices should change but also in response to what and to what end. The present meeting of the International Network of Urban Laboratories: UrbanLab+ in Berlin is therefore seeking to address a deeper understanding of the politics of practice-orientation.

The public debate at ANCB is part of this meeting and will open the discussion to a broader public with the aim to:
– exchange ideas and experiences concerning methods and tools as well as the political and practical challenges around the design and implementation of practice-oriented learning and teaching;
– hear from practitioners from private, public and non-profit sectors about their expectations and ideas concerning graduate education that is oriented at – and relevant to – practice.

Jochen Hucke, Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment, Berlin
Daniel Sprenger, Landscape Architect, Chamber of Architects Berlin
Prof. Philipp Misselwitz, Habitat Unit, Technische Universität Berlin

Daniela Konrad, Urban Research and Design Laboratory, Technische Universität Berlin; Johannes Novy, Fachgebiet Planungstheorie, Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg; Elke Schlack, Universidad Catolica de Chile

The participants are invited to choose among three round table sessions focussing on the following questions:

1) How is practice-orientation defined or conceptualized in academia, by whom, and under what circumstances?
2) How can all the different meanings and expectations associated with practice and practice-orientation be addressed - i.e. what does practice mean and what should practice-orientation entail?
3) How can the education make better use of the interconnected knowledge
on built environment and what models are there to develop greater
synergies between research, practice and teaching?

This event is part of the ANCB Programme Educating the Global Architect.